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Comment on“The role of wildlife (wild birds) in the global transmission of antimicrobial resistance genes”

Dear Editor,

We read with interest the article by Wang and colleagues regarding the role of wildlife in the transmission of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) (Wang et al., 2017). Although we appreciate the efforts in reviewing this important topic, we would like to comment on some statements that we believe are not up-to-date or properly cited.

The authors mentioned only two reports ofcarrying plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene() from Argentina (Liakopoulos et al., 2016). In our 2016 article, we already reported, for the first time, on the plasmid-mediated colistin resistance extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producingstrain PK-13 from a wild migratory bird (Eurasian coot,) in Asia (Mohsin et al., 2016). However, the authors have not described our findings in their review. Furthermore, it is important to note that thestrain PK-13 carries the IncI2 plasmid, which is in agreement with the original Chinese study (Liu et al., 2016) and previous reports from wild birds (Ruzauskas & Vaskeviciute, 2016; Liakopoulos et al., 2016). Therefore, it is likely that plasmid IncI2 is involved in the spread of thegene inisolates from wild birds. Every winter, Pakistan hosts more than a million wild migratory birds from Siberia and Central Asia (Mohsin et al., 2016). There is already a dearth of data on the presence ofntly reported on the high carriage of CTX-M-15-producingin wild migratory birds in Pakistan (Raza et al., 2017). Finally, we agree with the authors that long-range migration of birds could be involved in the global dissemination of AMR.

Mashkoor Mohsin*, Shahbaz Raza

Liakopoulos A, Mevius DJ, Olsen B, Bonnedahl J. 2016. The colistin resistancegene is going wild.71(8): 2335-2336.

Liu YY, Wang Y, Walsh TR, Yi LX, Zhang R, Spencer J, Doi Y, Tian GB, Dong BL, Huang XH, Yu LF, Gu DX, Ren HW, Chen XJ, Lv LC, He DD, Zhou HW, Liang ZS, Liu JH, Shen JZ. 2016. Emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mechanism MCR-1 in animals and human beings in China: a microbiological and molecular biological study.16(2): 161-168.

Mohsin M, Raza S, Roschanski N, Schaufler K, Guenther S. 2016. First description of plasmid-mediated colistin-resistant extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producingin a wild migratory bird from Asia.48(4): 463-464.

Raza S, Mohsin M, Madni WA, Sarwar F, Saqib M, Aslam B. 2017. First report ofCTX-M-15-type ESBL-producingin wild migratory birds in Pakistan.14(1):182-186.

Ruzauskas M, Vaskeviciute L. 2016. Detection of thegene inprevalent in the migratory bird species.71(8): 2333-2334.

Wang J, Ma ZB, Zeng ZL, Yang XW, Huang Y, Liu JH. 2017. The role of wildlife (wild birds) in the global transmission of antimicrobial resistance genes.38(2): 55-80.

02 May 2017; Accepted: 26June 2017

10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2017.023

, E-mail:mashkoormohsin@uaf.edu.pk